Not every great dinner needs to end when the plates are cleared. The Frog Club gives Windsor a reason to linger, running its full menu until midnight seven nights a week, a rarity on Chapel Street and across Melbourne. Founded by hospitality veterans James McBride and Marc Gurman, the team behind South Yarra’s Gilson, the venue borrows the indulgence of a classic New York steakhouse and the polish of a French brasserie, then wraps both in unmistakable Melbourne cool. Three dining rooms, designed by local studio Nathan Ruttner, flow into one another beneath glossy walls, intricate tiling and the heritage bones of the former Morris Jones site. Leading the kitchen is culinary director Angel Fernandez, whose track record runs from Victor Churchill to six years as executive chef at Neil Perry’s Rosetta. The centrepiece is a custom charcoal grill, where real firepower meets premium beef. Cuts stretch from a 280-gram Black Opal Wagyu hanger to a one-kilogram Chauvel Wagyu côte de boeuf, each finished over coals. The repertoire reaches well past steak, with lobster frites in sauce Américaine, a mushroom pithivier, and roasted Wollemi duck with quince. The opening acts set an unapologetically lavish tone. Sea Cave Kaluga and Anna Dutch Oscietra caviar share the page with the kitchen’s signature caviar tart and a towering Plateau de Fruits de Mer. Smaller bites nod to a golden age of dining: crumpets with mussel escabeche and saffron butter, gougères filled with Comté cream and Wagyu bresaola, and a prawn cocktail dressed with mignonette lettuce and Mary Rose sauce. Dessert turns playful, a make-your-own sundae built from rotating housemade sauces and toppings. Behind the bar, Matt Linklater keeps the Martinis coming alongside house creations like the Frog Hopper, Disco Margarita and Chapel Daisy. Music is no afterthought: resident director Prequel spins jazz, soul, disco and funk on vinyl through a Swiss Varia Instruments rotary mixer making its Southern Hemisphere debut. Pull up a stool at the central bar and the evening tends to look after itself.
